Current collector contact member



April 13, 1948. c. A. THOMAS CURRENT COLLECTOR CONTACT MEMBER Filed Dec. 11, 1945 WWW Q lllllllllllllll IL Fig.1.

Inventor- Charles A.Thomas, by His Attorney.

Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES 2,4s9,c7s-::- CURRENT COLLECTOR CONTACT Charles A. Thomas;Fort

Wayne; Ind.- assigiior to General Electric Companyfiacorporation of New York Application December '11, 194%Se1 ial Nbl634f305 4 Claims. (C1. 171"32'3 My invention relates to current collector contact members and particularly to contact members utilizing a cartridge type brush holder.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved type current collector member.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent and my invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the accompanying drawing, and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, illustrating an embodiment of my improved current collector contact member; and Fig. 2 is a partial sectional View taken at right angles to Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown an embodiment of my invention in which a cartridge type brush holder is provided with an insulating 3 with longitudinally extending grooves 4 and 5 formed in the transverse leading and trailing sides of the slots. A contact brush member 6 is arranged in the slot 3 for longitudinal movement through the brush holder and is biased towards a current collector l by a resilient compression coil spring member 8 arranged m engagement with a smooth metallic spring seat member 9 on the end of the contact brush member 6 away from the current collector end of the brush holder. The brush 6 is resiliently biased towards one side of the slot 3 by a suitable spring biased member which includes a pair of telescopically arranged cups i and II resiliently biased apart by a coil spring l2 arranged therebetween and adapted to engage the groove to bias the cup I0 towards the groove 4. This cup IE! is formed with a flange l3 which engages the side of the contact brush member 6 adjacent the groove 5 and biases this contact member toward the side of the slot 3 adjacent the groove 4 in order to minimize chattering of the contact brush 6. The compression spring 8 is held in compression between the brush spring seat 9 which fits loosely on an upper portion M of the brush 6 and another spring seat member l5 provided with a pair of guides l6 extending therefrom and into the adjacent ends of the contact member slots for preventing rotation of the spring seat l5 relative to the brush holder. In addition, the spring seat I5 is formed with a flanged portion which extends over the upper end of the brush holder member 2 for preventing this spring seat from sliding into the contact member slot 3, and a screw cap I1 threadedly engages the upper end of the brush holder member 2 for holding this second spring seat l5 in position and for closing the upper end of the brush holder car- With this construction, the upper spring seat I5 is kept from turning when the screw cap I! is screwed into position, thereby preventing twisting of the spring 8, and the arrangement of the smooth spring seat 9 prevents the spring 8 from twisting the brush 6 in the brush slot 3. It has been found that with such a construction, the side pressure necessary to reduce chatter in arrangement. This reduces the friction of the biasing member I I on the surface of the groove 5, resulting in an improvement in the contact brush follow-up of the current collector surface I.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my pended claims to do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A current collector contact member adapted for longitudinal movement in a brush holder hava transverse side of said slot, said contact member having resilient means aiiixed thereto and arranged in engagement with the side of said groove for biasing said contact member against a side of said slot whereby chatter of said contact member is reduced.

2. A current collector contact member adapted for longitudinal movement in a brush holder having a contact member slot therein, said contact member having resilient means extending into an opening therein and arranged in engagement with a side of said slot for biasing said contact member against another side of said slot whereby chatter of said contact member is reduced.

3. A current collector contact member adapted for longitudinal tudinally extending groove in a transverse side of said slot, said contact member having a compres- 3 sion spring member extending into an opening therein and arranged in engagement with the side of said groove for biasing said contact member against a side of said slot whereby chatter of said contact member is reduced.

4. A current collector contact member adapted for longitudinal movement in a brush holder having a contact member slot therein with a longitudinally extending groove in a transverse side of said slot, said contact member having resilient means affixed thereto and arranged in engagement with the side of said groove for biasing said 7 contact member against a side of said slot whereby chatter of said contact member is reduced,

said resilient means including a pair of telescopically arranged cups and a compression spring arranged therebetween for biasing said cups apart, one of said cups extending into an openmg in said contact member and arranged in enment with the side of said groove.

CHARLES A THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Oehring Feb. 1, 1898 Bery May 14, 1918 Miner Dec. 2, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Mar. 26, 1931 

